How Dangerous Is Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surgery?

Reviewed By: Pramod Kerkar, MD, FFARCSI

A physician recommends a surgery to treat abdominal aortic aneurysm to stop the rupture caused in the aorta. The aneurysm forms in the weakest spot of the aorta. As blood flows at high pressure, the risk of rupture is imminent, causing severe damage and death. Therefore, attending to it in its initial stage will be helpful in preventing death and also stop the expansion of an aneurysm to the surrounding locations.

How Dangerous Is Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surgery?

The operation can be dangerous for an individual who is attending it with a rupture. Surgery is the only procedure to attend to the ruptured aneurysm. It is here that the individual suffers from severe pain, drop in blood pressure, and internal bleeding. Although the operation is an answer in attending to the condition, the physician ways the risk factors associated with the surgery with that of the pre-existing health condition of the patient. Nonetheless, patients attending abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery have a high success rate with 95% patients reporting a full recovery.

Why There Is A Need For Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surgery?

The physician will recommend the abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery because of the following reasons:

To provide relief to the symptoms

To decrease the risk factors that pose a threat towards rupturing

To maintain proper flow of the blood

To attend to aneurysms that are greater than five centimeters in diameter

To attend to the situation when the growth rate of an aneurysm is more than 0.5 centimeter in a year

Life-threatening condition due to bleeding.

Treatment

It is probable for the specialist to choose between an open repair or endovascular aneurysm repair procedure. Opting between the two depends on several factors including the age of the patient, gender, smoking habits, family history, previous episode of an aneurysm, hypertension, and diseases related to the heart.

Complications

It is possible for an individual to experience difficulties after a surgical procedure. Some of the complications include:

Severe damage to the surrounding blood vessels, structures, and organs

Infection to the groin

Blood clots

Kidney damage

Bleeding

Continual leakage of blood into an aneurysm.

It is also essential for individuals to speak with the doctor and let them know about any allergies. The physician will consider this along with other factors before choosing the appropriate treatment procedure.

Getting Ready For The Surgery

The surgeon will provide all the instructions necessary for an individual to prepare for the surgery. The following are the conventional steps or instructions provided by the surgeon:

Requests information for an undergoing treatment that involves the use of blood thinning medicines

Carries out a pregnancy test in case of women

Asks a series of questions that help in acquiring answers allergic reactions to medications, anesthetic agents, contrast dyes, iodine, and latex.

Diagnosis

It is possible to diagnose an abdominal aorta aneurysm using ultrasound or CT scan. The scans are non-invasive and straightforward. These tests provide an insight into the location of an aneurysm, the size, and the shape. These three play a pivotal role in determining the required treatment for the individual.